Sunday, August 30, 2009

Berlin August 2009

and below you will find pictures from the second part of my trip to Northern Europe. The Baltic was fantastic, and after moving around for a while I was ready to spend 10 days in this city, and with a small detour to Potsdam (considered by some as being part of Berlin) and Dresden. If you want to see what happened when East and West Germany got reunified, then Berlin should be part of your itinerary.

I'm guessing the older generation still thinks of Germany as the East and West, because you still can hear people talking about "how East Germans do things" or "how West Germany had to ...", but with the new generation slowly those divisions are disappearing. If the East used to be gray and depressing - as I was told - then today East Berlin is colourful and vibrant.

I must admit it is interesting, coming from Canada, to see everyone carrying and drinking their beers in the metro, streets and anywhere they feel like it. Berlin does have a type of bohemian feeling, mixed with the punctuality, organization and perfection so known of the Germans.

Loved the fact almost every single area of the city has a cycling paths, and we are talking nice paths, and I must say one of the best ways to see the city is by bicycle - rent one if you go and if it is Summer of course.

Finally, the surprising thing for me was the fact the city is not as expensive as I thought is going to be, which was a bonus, and probably that is why I needed to go in rehab when I returned to Montreal due to the quantity of beer consumed during those 10 days.

5 comments:

Those were fantastic clips! I'll be in Berlin on September 4th and your dynamite photos really brought to life most of the sights I've been reading about. Plus, after 6 nights there, I'll be in Dresden for about a week, so your shots of Dresden were an unexpected delight as well.

It looks as if you spent some time near Alexanderplatz, which is quite close to the hostel I'm staying at.

I'm sure you will have a good time, and do not forget to read my review of Berghain/Panorama (great techno place in Berlin). and yes, I did stay near Alexanderplatz, actually I stayed at the apartments rented by the Christopher Hostel (very nice place), and great location, right across the Rosa-Luxembourg-platz metro station. Now, isn't one week in Dresden too much? I thought 1 day was enough for me .. and do go to Potsdam Patius